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Meredith is an award-winning writer interested in the ways Australians have understood the big questions of faith and meaning, and how that has played out in society and culture.

She studied at Sydney University with some of the leading cultural historians in the country, writing an honours thesis on the theological and political beliefs of Christian university students during the mid twentieth century, and a PhD on religious ideas of the Australian environment during the early colonial period. Since 2009, she has worked in the education and not-for-profit sectors, telling true stories about history, faith and culture. She is currently an Honorary Associate of the Department of History, Sydney University. She tweets at @meredithlake1

Writing

Meredith is the author of several books and essays on the Bible's contested influence in Australia, including a guide for students and a path-breaking new history, recently named 2018 Australian Christian Book of the Year. (available here). She has also written a major study of faith-based charity since the Great Depression, Faith in Action: HammondCare.

Meredith's innovative essay on religion and colonialism beat an international field to win the 2012 Bruce Mansfield Prize for best article in the Journal of Religious History. Her research also appears in History Australia, the Journal of Australian Colonial History, the Australian Journal of Politics and History, St Mark's Review and the edited collection Evangelists of Empire? Missionaries in Colonial History.

Speaking and teaching

Meredith is a highly regarded speaker on history, faith and culture. She has been an expert interviewee on ABC radio and television, various podcasts and Christian media outlets. Her recent public speaking includes a sold out session of the 2017 Sydney Writers Festival, the 2017 Commencement Lecture at St Mark's National Theological College, Canberra, and the Biennial EHA Ridley College Lecture, Melbourne. (For more, see Events).

Sharing her love of history in the classroom, Meredith has also taught courses in Australian history at Sydney University and lectured on the history of Christianity at Excelsia and Alphacrucis.

To invite Meredith to speak at your school, university, church or conference, please complete the short contact form on the home page.